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A registered sexual predator was arrested Friday after he invited a 12-year-old girl into his car and exposed himself to her, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.

Eric Roper, 28, drove near the girl on Long Street in Lakeland as she was walking to school and asked if she wanted a ride, officials said. The girl refused and threatened to call police, and Roper then stepped from the car and exposed himself, police said.

The girl ran to a nearby house, where the residents called for help. PCSO detectives said they confirmed Roper’s location during the incident through a GPS device he is required to wear.

Roper is listed as a transient with no known address. He was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping and lewd exhibition.

A registered sexual predator was arrested Friday after he invited a 12-year-old girl into his car and exposed himself to her, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.

Eric Roper, 28, drove near the girl on Long Street in Lakeland as she was walking to school and asked if she wanted a ride, officials said. The girl refused and threatened to call police, and Roper then stepped from the car and exposed himself, police said.

The girl ran to a nearby house, where the residents called for help. PCSO detectives said they confirmed Roper’s location during the incident through a GPS device he is required to wear.

Roper is listed as a transient with no known address. He was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping and lewd exhibition.

A state appeals court on Friday upheld the 200-year sentence of a Terra Linda man convicted of molesting four girls at his home.

Robert Alan Girard was convicted of four counts of molestation during a trial in 2007. He was 64 when convicted.

Girard, a registered sex offender, molested the girls from 2003 to 2006 when they visited his home for sleepovers with his daughter. The girls were 6 to 8 years old.

Judge Kelly Simmons sentenced Girard to the maximum four consecutive 50-year terms because of the crimes and his prior record. Girard was convicted in 1980 of performing a lewd act on a 9-year-old child, unlawful sexual intercourse and drug possession.

On Friday, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal in San Francisco upheld Simmons’ sentence.

“A lengthy sentence that will ensure (Girard) is barred from the community for the rest of his life and that will protect that community from future predatory conduct is fully justified,” wrote Justice Barbara Jones. “The 200-year sentence imposed does not shock the conscience or offend fundamental notions of human dignity.”

Civil lawsuits stemming from the Girard case are still pending in Marin Superior Court. In addition to seeking damages from Girard, the litigation claims Dixie School District officials and former San Rafael police Chief John Rohrbacher failed to notify parents that Girard

A state appeals court on Friday upheld the 200-year sentence of a Terra Linda man convicted of molesting four girls at his home.

Robert Alan Girard was convicted of four counts of molestation during a trial in 2007. He was 64 when convicted.

Girard, a registered sex offender, molested the girls from 2003 to 2006 when they visited his home for sleepovers with his daughter. The girls were 6 to 8 years old.

Judge Kelly Simmons sentenced Girard to the maximum four consecutive 50-year terms because of the crimes and his prior record. Girard was convicted in 1980 of performing a lewd act on a 9-year-old child, unlawful sexual intercourse and drug possession.

On Friday, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal in San Francisco upheld Simmons’ sentence.

“A lengthy sentence that will ensure (Girard) is barred from the community for the rest of his life and that will protect that community from future predatory conduct is fully justified,” wrote Justice Barbara Jones. “The 200-year sentence imposed does not shock the conscience or offend fundamental notions of human dignity.”

Civil lawsuits stemming from the Girard case are still pending in Marin Superior Court. In addition to seeking damages from Girard, the litigation claims Dixie School District officials and former San Rafael police Chief John Rohrbacher failed to notify parents that Girard

A convicted sex offender accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month in La Marque was arrested at a relative’s home in Somerville, police said.

Juan Lauderdale, 32, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. He is also charged with burglary of habitation, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and failure to register as a sex offender. All of the incidents occurred in La Marque, police said.

He is being held in the Galveston County jail on $370,000 bail.

Police said he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl on Dec. 29 at an apartment in the 1330 block of Montgomery.

The girl had gone to the apartment to have Lauderdale tattoo her name on her right arm near her shoulder, said La Marque Police Detective Geoff Price.

After he tattooed the girl, Lauderdale made sexual advances toward her, but she told him that he was too old for her, Price said.

Then he pulled out knife, beat her and sexually assaulted her, police said.

“He beat her pretty bad,” Price added.

Lauderdale drove the girl to her apartment complex in Texas City after the attack and dropped her off, authorities say. She told her neighbor that she had been assaulted and the neighbor called police.

Police found him after they stopped one his relatives in Somerville driving a truck that Lauderdale had reportedly stolen. Lauderdale was arrested at his sister’s home in the Burleson County city.

Price said Lauderdale served time in state prison for a 1996 conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child. He was registered as a sex offender because of that conviction, Price added, but had recently moved without notifying authorities.

A convicted sex offender accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month in La Marque was arrested at a relative’s home in Somerville, police said.

Juan Lauderdale, 32, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. He is also charged with burglary of habitation, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and failure to register as a sex offender. All of the incidents occurred in La Marque, police said.

He is being held in the Galveston County jail on $370,000 bail.

Police said he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl on Dec. 29 at an apartment in the 1330 block of Montgomery.

The girl had gone to the apartment to have Lauderdale tattoo her name on her right arm near her shoulder, said La Marque Police Detective Geoff Price.

After he tattooed the girl, Lauderdale made sexual advances toward her, but she told him that he was too old for her, Price said.

Then he pulled out knife, beat her and sexually assaulted her, police said.

“He beat her pretty bad,” Price added.

Lauderdale drove the girl to her apartment complex in Texas City after the attack and dropped her off, authorities say. She told her neighbor that she had been assaulted and the neighbor called police.

Police found him after they stopped one his relatives in Somerville driving a truck that Lauderdale had reportedly stolen. Lauderdale was arrested at his sister’s home in the Burleson County city.

Price said Lauderdale served time in state prison for a 1996 conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child. He was registered as a sex offender because of that conviction, Price added, but had recently moved without notifying authorities.

The mother of a registered Eugene sex offender’s latest victim spoke out in court Tuesday, saying she hoped he would be removed from the streets for good. She got a guarantee of at least six years.

In December, her 9-year-old was asleep when Ancle Price Reed Jr., 25, crawled through the girl’s window in west Eugene and touched her while she slept. Police used dogs to track Reed to his apartment, where a six-hour search uncovered him in the attic, hiding under insulation.

The attack marks the fourth time in six years that Reed has been convicted of attempting to assault girls in the Eugene area.

In 2002, he was charged with sex abuse, sodomy and statutory rape for incidents involving girls ages 9, 11, 13 and 15. The rape charges stemmed from a relationship with his then 15-year-old girlfriend, with whose family he lived. The other incidents involved attempted abuse of her younger relatives.

Reading a prepared statement at Tuesday’s sentencing, the victim’s mother fought back tears as she described what life has been like for her child since the attack.

“My daughter sleeps in my bed more often and is even afraid to go to the bathroom alone, even at school,” she said. “She’ll run in from playing outside and think someone is watching her. She has lost trust in people.”

Rush Hoag, the public defender assigned to the case, said Reed had a dark past.

The child of an alcoholic mother, he went into foster care at age 8 and cycled through more than 15 homes in eight years.

“It’s pretty clear from the study of all of this that (he) was exposed to at least one abuser and probably more,” Hoag said.

Reed’s first wife left him while he was serving his first prison sentence. He had been married for only a few weeks to his second wife when the December abuse occurred.

Reed has a 2-month-old baby, and a 5-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter from his previous marriage.

On the night of the assault, Reed was at a party next door to the victim’s home and was drinking heavily, Hoag said.

“There are aspects of the night he doesn’t recall,” Hoag said. “This thing has all the earmarks of someone who is operating under the influence of alcohol, quite possibly at a level of alcohol blackout.”

The victim’s mother said Reed had touched her daughter before. The girl asked her mother not to say anything and said she thought it may have been a mistake because he was drinking.

“This little girl didn’t need to be visited by your problems and your past,” Lane County deputy district attorney Erik Hasselman told Reed in front of a packed courtroom.

Reed, slumped in a chair, declined to give a statement.

Lane County Circuit Court Judge Mustafa Kasubhai sentenced Reed to 45 months for the burglary, to be served concurrently with his 75-month sentence for sex abuse, a Measure 11 crime that carries a minimum mandatory sentence.

Reed is not eligible for early release and will spend 10 years in post-prison supervision when he gets out.

As a condition of his release, Kasubhai recommended that Reed not be allowed contact with his victim, her family or any other minors.

“In the state’s opinion, this is the candidate that Measure 11 sought to address,” said Hasselman, who prosecuted Reed’s first sex abuse case in 2002.

“Six years may seem like an eternity to him right now, but he’s still going to be a relatively young man when he gets out, still capable of making the same types of decisions,” Hasselman said. “If Mr. Reed so much as steps out of line on his post-prison supervision, I’m going to be there on behalf of the community to make sure that he is not … unpunished for any other crimes he commits against children.”

A Billings man wanted for allegedly violating the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act has been captured by the U.S. Marshals Service’s Montana Violent Offender Task Force.

Ronald Lewis Kercher, 29, is required to register as a sex offender after a November 30, 1998 conviction for felony sexual intercourse without consent in Jefferson County.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection Act requires that a person must register as a sexual offender if convicted in a state court, and has traveled in interstate commerce to reside in a new state. The offender must register his or her new address within three business days.

Kercher was arrested at his residence located at 137 Jack Street in Billings, Monday morning. He is alleged to have failed to register as a sex offender after traveling in interstate commerce.

U.S. Marshal, Dwight Mackay, says a number of events led up to Kercher’s capture. He was arrested on March 14, 2008 and failed to show in court. A warrant was issued for his arrest. On September 4, 2008 he was captured in Georgia and served some time. Once out, he failed to register as a sex offender and the current warrant was issued.

Kercher stood before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby during his initial appearance. He is under the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending further court proceedings.

The 29 year old faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

A Billings man wanted for allegedly violating the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act has been captured by the U.S. Marshals Service’s Montana Violent Offender Task Force.

Ronald Lewis Kercher, 29, is required to register as a sex offender after a November 30, 1998 conviction for felony sexual intercourse without consent in Jefferson County.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection Act requires that a person must register as a sexual offender if convicted in a state court, and has traveled in interstate commerce to reside in a new state. The offender must register his or her new address within three business days.

Kercher was arrested at his residence located at 137 Jack Street in Billings, Monday morning. He is alleged to have failed to register as a sex offender after traveling in interstate commerce.

U.S. Marshal, Dwight Mackay, says a number of events led up to Kercher’s capture. He was arrested on March 14, 2008 and failed to show in court. A warrant was issued for his arrest. On September 4, 2008 he was captured in Georgia and served some time. Once out, he failed to register as a sex offender and the current warrant was issued.

Kercher stood before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby during his initial appearance. He is under the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending further court proceedings.

The 29 year old faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

“The voyeur and stalking nature of McClellan’s activities and his attendance at functions where children congregate, in conjunction with his use of photographs of small children, is offensive, frightening, menacing and not protected by McClellan’s free speech or assembly rights.”

A self-proclaimed pedophile who promised to return to Santa Clarita Valley to watch young girls in public areas has lost his appeal of a statewide ban keeping him away from children.

Last week, the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles upheld a 2007 Superior Court injunction that prohibits 46-year-old Jack McClellan from being within 10 yards of any child in California.

Local lawyer Anthony D. Zinnanti filed the injunction in August 2007 after reading reports in The Signal that McClellan planned to return to this valley with the intent of watching little girls at family events in public settings.

Zinnanti won his injunction, and on Aug. 3, 2007, Superior Court Judge Melvin D. Sandvig widened the scope of Zinnanti’s injunction to include all of California.

He handed down a sweeping statewide order prohibiting McClellan from being within 10 yards of any child in California and ordering him not to loiter where children congregate.

The appellate panel of three judges – Justices Richard Dennis Aldrich, J. Anthony Klein and Patti Kitching – concluded that the injunction still stands. They also ordered McClellan to pay Zinnanti’s court costs estimated to be between $500 and $1,000.

“This is about fear, hatred and public paranoia, the same forces that power racism and sexism,” Richard Mario Procida said Wednesday, adding it was difficult for him “personally” to tackle such a “very very difficult” case.

“I think the message of this decision is ‘Don’t express your feelings’ and ‘Don’t express your secret desires,'” said the Whittier attorney. “Don’t express yourself because you could be prosecuted for it. Don’t make a public confession because it could be interpreted as a threat.”

Zinnanti said he was delighted at the decision.

“Everybody from Santa Clarita that I run into tells me, ‘Thanks for looking out for the kids.'” he said. “I couldn’t not do what I did.”

On Labor Day 2007, McClellan moved to Portland, Ore., after he was detained a couple of times by law enforcement officers upholding Sandvig’s ruling.

McClellan vowed to appeal the injunction from out of state on grounds that his First Amendment rights were violated, specifically his right to express a preference for pre-pubescent girls.

McClellan ran a Web site that promoted “girl love,” including advice to pedophiles as to where young girls congregate and the degree to which they were supervised.

McClellan argued two points in a bid to appeal his statewide restraining order.

According to court documents obtained by The Signal, McClellan argued the injunction was “improper,” because “they were based on the content of his speech that promotes sexual relations with children as being healthy.”

He also argued the injunction placed restraints on his publishing activities.

The judges in their ruling wrote: “We are not persuaded by either argument.”

They explained their decision as: “McClellan is not prohibited from espousing his controversial views.

Rather, he is prohibited from his continuing course of conduct to harass, attack, assault, stalk and keep under surveillance minor children, as to do so places the children in danger, and is threatening to them.

“The voyeur and stalking nature of McClellan’s activities and his attendance at functions where children congregate, in conjunction with his use of photographs of small children, is offensive, frightening, menacing and not protected by McClellan’s free speech or assembly rights.”

As a result of the court decision, McClellan is still barred from being within 30 feet of any child in California.